Leather splitting machine



S. A. DOBYNE Dec. 26, 1933.

LEATHER SPLITTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 7, 1950 I'IIIIIIIIIIII PatentedDec. 26, 1933 Champion Shoe 'Maehinery Louis, Mo., a corporation ofMissouri Company, St.

Application August 7, 1930. Serial No. .473, l2 V 6 Claims.

' This invention relates generally to leather splitting machines andmore particularly to a machine of that type having a reduction gearingbetween the operating device and its automatically adjustable feedingroll. V

The object o the invention, generally stated, is'to provide a leathersplitting machine having adjustable feed rolls which are driven througha reduction gearing. g

A further object of the invention is to provide a reduction gearingsuitable foroperating feed rolls which are adjustable relative to eachother. A more specific object of the invention is to provide a flexibleconnection between the operating device and the adjustable feed roll. IOther objects will appear to those skilled in the art when the followingdescription is read in connest-ion with the accompanying drawing, in

which--.

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a leather splitting machineconstructed in accordance with my invention; 7

Figure 2 is an end View in section, taken along line 22'of Figure 1,showing the reduction gears ing for driving the machine illustrated andthe flexible connection which I have provided;

Figure 3 is asectional View in end elevation ,taken along the line 3-3of Figure :1; and u I Figure 4 is a side elevation showing anotherembodiment of this invention l I 1, Referring now to the drawing, andmore particularly to Figures 1 and '2, the leather splitting machinecomprises a framework consisting of a base. 1, having a pair of uprightmembers 4-5 at opposite sides thereof and a cross member 6 connectingthe upper extremities of the upright members. Each of the uprightmembers 4-5 is providedwith a longitudinalslot 7, in each of which aremounted a pair of bearing boxes 8 and 9,. which carry, respectively, theends of shafts 10 and 11 upon which are mounted feeding rolls 12 and 13,respectively, the latter of which is corrugated. Upon one end of each ofthe shafts 10 and 11 are mounted gears 14 and r 15, respectively,whichengage each other and co-operate to rotate the feeding rolls l2 and13 simultaneously.

A gear housing 16 is mounted upon the framework and secured thereto by aplurality of bolts 17 disposed thereabout for maintaining it in rigidposition relative to the frame. The housing 16 carries a pair of bosses18 and '19, in the former of which is mounted a shaft 21 carrying at itsinner end a pinion .22 and having provided at its outer end an operatingdevice in the form of a crank 23. Within the boss 19 is mounted a shaft24, upon the innerend of which is mounted a gear which engages andco-operates with the pinion 22 to operate the leather splitting machine,as will be more fully described hereinafter.

Between the gear 25 and the gear 15, is provided aflexibleconnectionwhich in this particular embodiment consists in anarm26 secured to the outer face of the gear 15, so that it rotatestherewith. Upon the outer end of thearm 26 is mounted an axiallyextending pin 2'? which is disposed for engagement with a slot 28 in.the gear 25 and extending radially thereof, thus providing a variableeccentric connection between gears 15 and 25. i V .v r The bearing boxes8 and 9, as previouslystated, are slidable within the slots 7 andareadjusted to variouspositions bymeans of set screws 29 and a bar 30. Thebar .30 thus controls the position of the-roll '12, and only bymovementof the bar 30 can the position of the .roll '12 relative to theframe be changed. 0n the otherv hand, theset screws29 merelyoperate toregulate the force of the springs which support the roll l3, as willbemore fully described hereinafter. The'baselis provided with a pluralityof laterally Uextending lugs 31, arranged in vertically aligned pairsand in alignment with thegupright members 4 and 5. A plate 32, havingcylindrical portions 33ate'ach end thereof, is attachedt'othe famework,with one of the cylindrical portions 33' interposed between each pair oflugs 31, whereby to form guide cylinders. V Within each of the cylinders33 is provided a spring ,34, whichis engaged at its lower end bya head35 slidable relative to the cylinder, and-having therein a conical,recess 36,, as clearlyillustrated in Figure 1, for the reception of thepointed endof the set screw 29. One of the set screws 29 is in threadedengagement with the lower lug 31 of each pair, so that the position ofthe head 35 may be varied by adjustment of the screw 29. The spring 34is engaged at itsupper end by a head B'Zwhich is also slidable withinthecylinder 33 and which is mounted upon a-stem38 engaging at its upperend the bearing box ,9, whereby a rigid connection between the bearingbox!) and the head-37 is provided, throughwhich the force of the spring34 is transmitted directly to the bearing box 9. This organization is,of course, to be found in duplicate on opposite sides of the machine. 7A pair of springs 40 are interposed between the bearing boxes 8 and 9on-each side of the machine, as clearlyillustrated in Figures 1 and 3,and provide a yieldable connection for the transmission of force betweenthe bearing boxes.

It is apparent that the springs 34 and'40 are bar 30. g A hand lever ispivotally mounted upon the top piece 6 at its central portion by a bolt46, which is provided with a wing nut 47 disposed to be tightened andthereby restrain movement of the hand lever 45 relative to the top piece6. The hand lever 45 is provided at its lower end with an open slot 48for engagement with a pin 49 carried by the slidable bar 30, whereby isestablished a connection which permits the operation of the slidable barby the hand lever 45. It will be noted that the slidable bar 30 isprovided at each of its ends with inclined surfaces 51, which surfaceslie in parallel planes and are disposed for engagement with thetransverse pins 43 carried by the cars 42 of the bearing boxes 8. Itwill thus be seen that when the bar- 30 is actuated to the left by thehand lever 45,

a downward force is applied to the bearing boxes 8 through the pin 43 tomove them downwardly against the action of the springs 34 and 40.

A splitting knife 52 is carried by brackets 53, which are connected toeach of the upright members 4 and 5, and hasits cutting edge disposedadjacent to the space which intervenes between the feed rollers 12 and13. Upon the opposite sides of the upright members 4 and 5 is mounted aworking table 54, which facilitates in guiding the leather to be split.

An indicating scale is provided on the bar 30, which co-operates withthe pointer 55 to indicate the position in which the upper. feed roller12 is stationed.

In the operation of the device, the set screws 29 are actuated to movethe lower roller 13 to a position in which its top is just even with thecutting edge of the knife 52 and the bar '30 is then operated until thedesired position is shown at the indicator, and in which position theupperfeed roller will be disposed so that the thickness of the leather,after passing the cutting edge of the knife, will be such as is desired.It is thus seen that the graduated scale on the bar 30 indicates thedistance between the bottom of the upper feed roll 12 and the cuttingedge of the knife 52, which distance determines the thickness of thesheet after the. splitting operation is completed. 7 v

When the desired adjustment between the feed roller 12 and the knifeedge has been attained, the handle 23 is operated to drive the rollersthrough the gear train hereinbefore described and through the flexibleconnection 2728. The flexible connection permits the relative adjustmentbetween the bearing boxes 9 and the framework towhich the gearhousinglfi is rigidly attached and, accordingly, permitsof a Variationin the radial distances between the axes of the gears 15 and 25, as wellas between the axis of the pinion22'and that of the gear 15, during suchadjustment of the bearing boxes 9.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the flexible connection 27-28 issubstituted by an Oldham coupling 56, wherein a pair of co-operat ingmembers are each provided with a groove and tongue perpendicular to eachother and which operate ina manner well known in the art.

By the use of such a flexible connection between the gears 15 and 25, itis possible to permit movement of the roll 13 relative to the frame androll 12 without altering the position of the driving gear and casing. Itis thus possible torigidly connect the casing of the driving gear to theframe and thereby obtain a steady and positive support for operating thecrank.

axes. v

From the foregoing description, it is believed that a preferableembodiment of my invention has been fully described, but it is to beunderstood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that manymodifications will present themselves to those skilled in the art, whichmay be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or fromthe scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A device of the kind described comprising, a frame, a pair of rollsadjustably mounted in cooperative relation on said frame,interconnecting gears secured to each of said rolls, one of which gearsis connected to drive the other, drivshaft and said movable gear movableto permit substantial variation in the axial distance therebetween.

3. In a machine of the character described, a

pair of parallel feed rollers,-means for mounting one of said rollersfor movement relative to the other, gears on said rollers' meshing witheach other, the gear on said movable roller being adapted to drive theother, a drive shaft journaled in a fixed mounting, and a flexibledriving connection from said drive shaft to said movable rollerautomatically shiftable to accommodate variations in the distancebetween the axes of said drive shaft and said movable roller.

4. In a machine of the character described, a frame, a pair ofparallelfeed rollers, means for mounting one of said rollers for movement onsaid frame relative to the other, connections whereby said movableroller drives the other roller, a drive shaft journaled in afixedbearing on said frame, and driving connections from said shaft tosaid movable roller having an extensible portion adapted to accommodatevariations in the distance between the axes .of said drive shaftand saidmovable roller. v 1

5. In a machine of the character described, a frame, a pair of parallelfeed rollers, means for mounting one of said rcllers for movement onsaid framerelative to the other, a drive shaft journaled in a fixedbearing on said frame, and driving connections from said shaft tosaidroller including a crank on one having a sliding connection with theother adapted to accommodate variations in the distance between theiraxes.

' 6. In a machine of the character described, a framaa pair of parallelfeedrollers, means for mounting one ofaid rollers for movement on saidframe relative to the other, a drive shaft journaled ina fixed bearingon said frame, and driving connections from said shaft to said rollerincluding a crank on one having a pin-and-slot connection with the otheradapted to accommodate variations in the distance between theirSTEVENSON A. DOBYNE.

